He began his career in the early 1960s with the R&B/blues-based punk rockbandThe Animals. They had hits such as "House of the Rising Sun", "See See Rider", "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood", "Inside Looking Out", "We Gotta Get Out Of This Place", "Don't Bring Me Down" and "It's My Life".

He later formed "Eric Burdon & The Animals" in 1967. He continued to have chart success with songs like "San Franciscan Nights", "When I Was Young", "Good Times", "Sky Pilot", "Monterey" and "Ring of Fire".

After forming several groups such as "Eric Burdon Band" or "The New Animals", he released his first solo album in many years, My Secret Life (2004), which had many musical directions, like hard rock, jazz, progressive and folk.

In the following year he released Athens Traffic Live and Soul of a Man.